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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Occupy Portland cleanout is a donnybrook

So far we've seen one arrest and one police officer hit in the leg by a projectile and hospitalized. They brought out the horses and the cops in armor at about 2, but after a good half hour of that, the end game is nowhere in sight. The appearance of the mounted patrol and the riot gear has riled up a crowd that was starting to thin out. Why the city picked Saturday night to take action is beyond us. But unless things get a lot better than they are right now, Mike Reese's mayoral ambitions are in trouble.

Looks like the "stand-off" is continuing.
What a joke....typical Portlandia!
I know the downtown merchants are getting nervous as the shopping season gets closer. Several downtown merchants have told me thay are not happy as their customers go to the malls where they feel safer.
One merchant has sent out an email letter encouraging customers to come back to downtown that it is safe and clean and ready for business.
Not only has the current administration killed the downtown area with numerous business unfriendly taxes, fees, and just attitude, they are now letting this "ows"/homeless mess further decay the city's core.
Maybe it is time the small business owners marched on city hall.
And I was initially sympathetic to the "#ows" folks. If they stuck to day camping and could express themselves in a more coherent way I might be more inclined to offer support. But just hanging out is not a protest.

Speaking of the chief, I think it is outrageous that the mayor has not asked him to make a public final decision about his mayoral ambitions, with the understanding that he would step down as chief if he's going to run. Running for a major public office is a full time job--it's absurd to think the chief can remain adequately informed and prepared if he's dashing off to fundraisers in the Pearl District late Friday nights. But even more than that, every decision he makes as chief will be viewed through the lens of his candidacy--nobody will know if he's making decisions because they make the most strategic sense, or because he's trying to get (or not lose) the votes from a certain group of people. The fact that the mayor is letting him pursue this charade makes it obvious that he's the mayor's handpicked successor.

I'm not in ageement that anyone "won" this round. The protesters were "emboldened" some time ago so nothing has changed. The smart move at this point was to have enough cops on hand to handle the meatheads, and wait for the best tactical time to move in when it is much safer. Fewer folks and daylight being the key to success.

Just like a spoiled kid throwing a tantrum by going outside to roll around in the mud. You can whip his butt and drag him back inside when he first gets upset, or simply wait till he gets cold and tired. Either approach will work, but you do have to choose one or the other.

Just another example of why advertising a 'deadline' is stupid and ineffective. You don't tell a bully when you are going to whack him, you take him by surprise. Atlanta did a surprise 'raid' and quickly took down the camp (it should be noted that the Atlanta police DID warn the protesters several times prior to the raid that they should leave or risk arrest - they just didn't say WHEN that arrest might take place).

These clowns are breaking laws right and left (starting with no permit). They are costing taxpayers (of which the majority of them are NOT), hundreds of thousands of dollars for police overtime. Okay, we heard your whine, now go back to mom and dad's basement and blog your brains out on the HuffPost. Just leave already!!!!

The brilliant mayor announced this morning that once the camps have been cleared (note: he said this after repeatedly thanking the protesters for their awesome behavior last night, so god only knows when they'll feel inclined to clear the camps now), the city will erect fencing around the parks. You know, because every major city likes to have fencing around two of its major downtown parks during the holidays. Unreal...

I just saw an interview of creepy and he described the the split with his tweets and "on one hand there's those who think I am taking too long and on the other hand those who think I am a dictator"

Therefore, neither one must be correct! I mean, that's the logic of anyone who gives you the old "people on this side think I'm A, people on the other side think I'm Z, therefore I must be somewhere in the comfortable middle."

Ben, the only thing worse than advanced warning of the landing is to actually make the landing. For all of the mistakes made up till now waiting for daylight and the crowds to thin/tire is the right move at this point.

I hope they sweep this thing out at some point in the afternoon. Daylight is safer, yesterday was a complete circus. Also, there is a ton of foot/car traffic in that area during the workweek, and if the camp stays through this week, I think some of the campers will come back/be joined by the "reinforcements" from other areas that came in for yesterday. Another lesson for the citizens of Portland about electing ineffective progressives for key positions.

Unless I am missing something that was accomplished by the advanced warning or waiting for the sake of waiting?

Naturally there have been varried circumstances and opportunities over the weeks when law enforcement advance would have been more and less wise.

But this is hardly new science and the pay book has been used all over the county with other OWS.

It seems to me that the least problematic approach has been the unannounced early morning carefully advanced sweep.

But hey, Creepy may be a genius.

Especially when it aint his money being wasted. At the end of the day I suspect he will have burned through over $2 million and not accomplished anything but encouraging more distractions from the local crony cabal he is an operative for.